5 Things You Didn’t Know About Debate Moderator Martha Raddatz

No matter who you think won the debate Thursday night between Vice President Joe Biden and VP hopeful Paul Ryan, you have to hand it to moderator Martha Raddatz for having better control over the faceoff than Jim Lehrer did at the first presidential debate last week.Both Biden and Ryan had no choice but to zip it when Martha cut them off with “We’re gonna move on” or “gentlemen.” She also was tough on the guys when it came to their answers, calling them out for more specifics and asking about whether the math added up.
As an expert on foreign policy, it was clear Martha knew what she was talking about, and she interjected the debate with her knowledge when appropriate. She also found a unique way to ask the men about their views on abortion, inquiring about how both Biden and Ryan’s Catholic faith affects their stance on the issue. If you were as curious as us about last night’s moderator, here are five things to know about her:

Rap Fan: For those of you watching the debate on C-SPAN last night, you would have caught Martha poking a joke at herself when she mentioned Chamillionaire while telling audience members to turn their phones off. This referenced her 2007 snafu — while serving as ABC News’s chief White House correspondent under the Bush administration — when her cell phone went off with Chamillionaire’s “Ridin” as the ring tone during a White House press briefing. Read more…

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